Outside of marriage, a “hook-up” is described as a fleeting, uncommitted sexual encounter with no strings attached. Surveys imply more young adults are having casual sex — and talking about it. This opens the door for researchers to delve into evolutionary and social contexts for the trend and to examine psychological and other consequences of these seemingly loveless meet ups. Dr. Dan Gottlieb and his guests discuss sexual hook-up culture and how it may, or may not, have strings attached.

Justin Garcia is a postdoctoral fellow at The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. His article “Sexual Hookup Culture: A Review” (written with Chris Reiber, Sean Massey, and Ann Merriwether) is the cover story in the February edition of APA Monitor on Psychology.